Means for cooling compressed air on locomotives.



E. A. AVtRILL.

MEANS FOR COOLING COMPRESSED AIR 0N LOCOMOTIVES.

APvucATloN man APR. 19. |918.

Lggo Patented Feb. ll, 1919.

INVENTOR `r sans armar onion.

EARL A. AVERILL, OF MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO LOCOMOTIVE FEED WATER HEATER COMPANY, OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

MEANS FOR COOLING COMPRESSED AIR ON LOCOMOTIVES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. ill, fllig..

Application led April 19, 1918. Serial No. 229,658.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, EARL A. AvnRiLL, of Mount Vernon, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Means for Cooling Compressed Air on Locomotives, of which improvement the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to enable the air which is compressed by the air pump on a locomotive for the operation of the air brake apparatus connected therewith, to be freed from contained moisture, and thereby rendered more desirably applicable for the operation of the brakes, by an apparatus of simple and inexpensive construction and ready adaptability in connection with standard equipments.-

The improvement claimed is hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a diagrammatic side View of a locomotive engine, illustrating an application of my invention; Fig. 2, a llongitudinal central section, on a larger scale, through the air cooling chest, and Fig. 3, a transverse section through the same, on the line al', of Fig. 2.

In the operation of the ordinary steam driven air compressor of the air brake equipment of a locomotive, the work performed by the compressor is partially converted into heat, which is retained in the discharged air. The air supply, which is taken from the outside atmosphere, is naturally of varying temperature, and degrees of humidity. The moisture content 0f thel air drawn into the compressor is largely vaporized by the increased temperature produced by compressing, and is carried with the compressed air tothe main air reservoirs on the locomotive, in the form of vapor. Upon again cooling this air to atmospheric temperature in the reservoirs. a portion of this moisture will be condensed and collect in the bottoms of the reservoirs as Water, but the compressed air still retains some moisture, Which passes through the pipes of the train line and to the auxiliary reservoirs under the cars. When a brake'application is made, this air is allowed to expand, its temperature being thengreatly reduced, and the contained vapor is condensed within the triple valves and tends to Wash the oil from the lubricated surfaces and interfere with their proper action. In cold weather, especially, this condition seriously hinders the proper operation of the air brake apparatus, by actually freezing, and preventing some of the essential parts from moving. The brakes sometimes become entirely inoperative from this cause, and it frequently causes very rough brake action, resulting in damage to the equipment and possibly a derailment.

In the cases of very long trains, Where the amount lof air leakage is large, it is frequently necessary for the air compressor on a locomotive to continue in rather rapid operation at all times, and under this condition, there is not sufficient time for any considerable partof the vapor to be condensed and remain in the main reservoirs, and it is, in larger part, carried over directly to the train line and aggravates the situation above noted. v

In view of this materially objectionable result, it becomes advisable to cool the air delivered from a compressor as much as possible, and as rapidly as possible, before it reaches the main reservoir of the locomotive, and thereby to condense the vapor, remove it from the compressed air, and reduce the possibilitiesof trouble from this cause.

Under my invention, the compressed air, upon leaving the compressor, is passed through a cooling chest, the cooling medium applied in which, is the boiler feed Wat-er, which is taken from the tank bya pump, and passed through the cooling chest before it is delivered to the boiler or to a feed Water heater. By means of a suitable disposition i of bailies and passages, the hot compressed air can be made to give up its heat to the feed Water, and is cooled down to approximately the temperature of the Water in the tender tank, While, at the same time, the

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pump, 3, vvhich forces it, through a delivery pipe, 4f, into and through the heating ele ments of the heater, 1, which may be of tubular or other known construction, in which elements it is subjected to the action of eX- haust steam, supplied through pipes leading from the exhaust passages, and thence passes, through a pipe. 6, to and past a check valve, 7, and into the boiler.

ln the practice of my invention, referring descriptively to the specific embodiment thereof which is herein illustrated, the de livery pipe, 4, of the boiler feed pump, 3, instead of leading, as in prior constructions, directly to the feed Water heater, 1, communicates vvith a cooling chest, 13, from which another section of delivery pipe, dl, leads to the heater. As shoivn in Figs. 2 and 3, the cooling chest, 13, is of cylindrical form, and closed at its ends, by heads, 13, between which extends a plurality of tubes, 13b, of comparativelysmall diameter. in which. if desired, helieally twisted retarding strips may be inserted. Chambered caps, 155, open to the tubes, are secured, detachably, to the heads of the cooling chest, the pump delivery pipe section, Ll, being connected to` and opening into, one of said chambercd caps, and the pipe section, el, being connected to and leading out of the other cap. Transverse baille plates, 13?, are fitted around the tubes, 13b, at intervals in the length of the cooling chest, said baliies being cut ofi at top and bottom, alternately, so as to leave free spaces for the passage of air between their top and bottom the shell of the casing.

The air vvhich eon'ipressed by the air pump, 1l, of the brake apparatus, which is indicated as being of Well known standard type, passes therefrom, through a pipe, 14C, into the cooling chest, between one of the heads thereof and the nearest baffle plate, and, in passing through the chest, is caused to traverse in alternatehy downward and upivard direction. around the tubes, 13b, until it reaches the opposite end of the chest, from 1which it passes through a pipe, 14h, to the main air reservoir, 15, of the brake apparatus. lerforations are formed in the bottom of the cooling chest., 1, which open into a water discharge channel, connected with the chest and fitted with a discharge valve or cock, 13B.

ln the operation of the apparatus, the compressed air delivered by the pump, 14, in'iparts its heat to the feed water passing through the tubes, 13b, of the cooling chest, and is thereby cooled to a temperature approximating that of the cold feed water in the tender tank, the Water which is contained in the compressed air, in the condition of vapor, being thereby condensed and separated. This Water drops into the lower discharge channel of the cooling chest, from edges and conveniently on or under the running board 1 of the locomotive, at a point where it Will not necessitate any increase in the length of piping for the boiler feed Water or for the connection between the air compressing pump and the main air reservoir. YVhile the appa `atus will obviously be of most advantageous application in connection with a feed Water heating system, as in the instance exemplified, it is not limited to such specific application, and could, if desired, be located, for similar operation, betvveen'the tender tank and the suction pipe of an ordinary boiler feed injector.

I claim as my invention and desire to se cure by Letters Patent:

1. The combination, with the air brake equipment of a locomotive, of means for cooling the air delivered from the compressor thereof, and separating the oontained water therefrom, in the passage of the air from the compressor to the main or supply reservoir of the brake apparatus.

Q. The combination, with the air brake equipment of a locomotive, of means for cooling the air delivered from the compressor thereof, and separating the contained Water therefrom, by subjecting the compressed air to the cooling action of feed water from the tender tank, in the passage of said feed Water to the boiler.

3..'1`he combination, with the air fbrake equipment of a locomotive, of a feed Water heater; and means for cooling the air delivered from the compressorvof the air brake equipment, and separating the contained Water therefrom, and in'iparting heat to the feed 'ater, by subjecting the. compressed air to the cooling action of feed Water from the tender tank, in the passage of said feed Water to the feed water heater.

4. rThe combination, with the air brake equipment of a locomotive, of a cooling chest; means for effecting the transference of heat between two separated currents of fluid in their passage through said chest; means for passing air from the compressor of the brake equipment through a compart' ment of said chest; and means for passing feed water through portions of the space in said chest, contacting with. but separated from, the compressed air compartment.

The combination. with the air brake equipment of a locomotive, of a tubular cooling chest; a. pipe connecting the space around the tubes thereof with the compressor of the brake equipment; a pipe connecting said space with the main reservoir; a boiler feed appliance; a pipe connecting Vsaid appliance with the spaces Within the eev lill

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tubes; and a pipe leading from said-spaces to a connection with a boiler check.

6, The combination, with the air brake equipment of a locomotive, of a feed Water heater; a tubular cooling chest; a pipe connecting the space around the tubes thereof with the compressor of the brake equipment; a pipe connecting said spacewith the main reservoir; a boiler feed appliance; a pipe connecting said appliance With the 10 spaces Within the tubes; and a pipe leading from Said spaces to the feed Water heater.

EARL A. AVERILL. Witnesses:

J. SNowDEN BELL, GEORGE E. BROWN. 

